Vehicle belt retractors include a force limiting means for preventing, in case of restraint, for instance in case of accident, the force acting on a vehicle occupant by a belt from increasing too strongly. From the state of the art belt retractors comprising two force limiting means are known which are functionally arranged in series and in which one force limiting means can be locked. In this way, different characteristic lines of the restraining forces are possible, for instance in order to adapt the belt retractor to the weight of a vehicle occupant.
It is the object of the invention to provide a belt retractor comprising two force limiting means functionally arranged in series which provides two differently high characteristic lines.